Christmas Tale - The Story of How Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Came to Be

This story appeared on my blog on December 24, 2009.  Many folks loved this story so I thought it was worth repeating this year.  

The Story Behind the Story of Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer

Rudolph…from www.guy-sports.com

A man named Bob May, depressed and broken hearted, stared out his drafty apartment window into the chilling December night.  His 4-year-old daughter Barbara sat on his lap quietly sobbing.

Bobs wife, Evelyn, was dying of cancer. 

Little Barbara couldn't understand why her mommy could never come home. Barbara looked up into her dad's eyes and asked, "Why isn't Mommy just like everybody else's Mommy?" Bob's jaw tightened and his eyes welled with tears.

Her question brought waves of grief, but also of anger. It had been the story of Bob's life. Life always had to be different for Bob. Small when he was a kid, Bob was often bullied by other boys. He was too little at the time to compete in sports. He was often called names he'd rather not remember. 

From childhood, Bob was different and never seemed to fit in. Bob did complete college, married his loving wife and was grateful to get his job as a copywriter at Montgomery Ward during the Great Depression. Then he was blessed with his little  girl.

But it was all short-lived. Evelyn's bout with cancer stripped  them of all their savings and now Bob and his daughter were forced  to live in a two-room apartment in he Chicago slums. Evelyn died  just days before Christmas in 1938. Bob struggled to give hope to his child, for whom he couldn't even afford to buy a Christmas gift. But if he couldn't buy a gift, he was determined a make one - a storybook!

Bob had created a character in his own mind and told the animal's story to little Barbara to give her comfort and hope. Again and again Bob told the story, embellishing it more with each telling. 

Who was the character? What was the story all about? The story Bob May created was his own autobiography in fable form. The character he created was a misfit outcast like he was. The name of the character? A little reindeer named Rudolph, with a big shiny nose. 

Bob finished the book just in time to give it to his little girl on Christmas Day. But the story doesn't end there. The general manager of Montgomery Ward caught wind of the little storybook and offered Bob May a nominal fee to purchase the rights to print the book. Wards went on to print,_ Rudolph the  Red-Nosed Reindeer_ and distribute it to children visiting Santa Claus in their stores.

By 1946 Wards had printed and distributed more than six million copies of Rudolph. That same year, a major publisher wanted to purchase the rights from Wards to print an  updated version of the book. In an unprecedented gesture of  kindness, the CEO of Wards returned all rights back to Bob May. The book became a best seller. Many toy and marketing deals followed and Bob May, now remarried with a growing family, became wealthy from  the story he created to comfort his grieving daughter. But the story  doesn't end there either.  

Bob's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, made a song adaptation to  Rudolph. Though the song was turned down by such popular vocalists  as Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore , it was recorded by the singing  cowboy, Gene Autry. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was released  in 1949 and became a phenomenal success, selling mo re records than  any other Christmas song, with the exception of "White Christmas." 

The gift of love that Bob May created for his daughter so long ago kept on returning back to bless him again and again. And Bob May  
learned the lesson, just like his dear friend Rudolph, that being different isn't so bad. In fact, being different can be a blessing.

Many Blessings!

Faith - Commonly Called “Believing”

When I work with clients, one of the biggest challenges to overcome is the person’s lack of faith or belief that their thoughts, in part, have caused the issue.  Secondly, is their lack of faith/belief in what is going to happen as they begin working on themselves.  And, thirdly, is their determination to hang on to the issue or challenge because they feel by letting go that part of their identity is gone.  These problems are so common!  It is as if the whole negative realm is working to keep the issues in place.

To be clear, believing in ourselves, in our intuition, and believing that everything works out for the best and highest good is the faith that those people that we perceive have “good luck” carry with them each day.  Where does Faith come from?  From inside us… it is part intuition, part belief in a higher being…God, Great Spirit, Mohammed, etc.  …. And the knowledge that that faith gives us the inspiration to make great choices which makes our lives easier.

We all know the phrase… when one door closes, another door opens.  That is what faith is about.  When a door closes, instead of moaning that a door has closed, change the moaning to the searching for the open door!  

When clients come to start healing themselves, they are actually choosing the open door and yet put up barricades to the process.  The good news is that by making the choice to start, the processes will begin to work.  And, slowly, the belief changes.

Blessings.

Christmas Thoughts – Peace

A common Christmas carols says – Peace on Earth, Goodwill to man – I think it is from "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day".  The song was on the car radio.  I started thinking… peace.  For many it means no war or persecution.  For others, it means not having to deal with anything that is drama or is negative. 

I like this poster that says, and I paraphrase, peace is being calm in your heart.  That feels right.

Many blessings.

Find the Place of Joy

The place of joy is different for each of us, yet the emotion is the same.  Joy lets you forget about the sadness and hurt and all the things that we call "negative.".

Joy can be so beautiful that it can make you laugh, giggle, feel carefree, and even cry – for joy.  What an awesome emotion!

Pull up JOY in your self today and see how it improves your well being.

Namaste.

Saint Germain - Approve of Yourself

Saint Germain tells us that we are very hard on ourselves.  Mostly, he says, because others are hard on us.  They criticize, want to change us, and condemn us for things that they dislike. 

Saint Germain tells us that it is time to take back our lives and to give approval to ourselves.  When we are in spirit, we can easily see how perfect we are.  This peace is filled with gratitude.  Our wellbeing comes back to us, and we move forward with confidence and with faith.

Namaste.

Saint Germain - Banish Fear

Let the fear go… says Saint Germain, and let the world shift for you into a kind and abundant place. 

The words make sense.  If we are locked in fear, we cannot see beyond the walls of the prison.  We get stuck in "what ifs…".  We can move beyond the fear.

Namaste

More on Fear

Spirit Speaks - What Is Fear?

Spirit Speaks–The Meaning of Fear

Angels Speak - The Time To Be In Service

Angels Speak - Conquering Fear

Saint Germain - You Are Essential

Saint Germain tells us that it is time to let go of the need or craving to please other people.  He says that everyone is essential to the world and to the Universe.  When we need other people's approval or when we listen to another person tell us what we should do… we loose our ability to hear Creation talk to us.

When we trust in our inner guidance, we begin to heal our soul from all the indignities that we have suffered up to that point.  We feel peace and we find that other opinions no longer matter.  We are in a place of well being and Spirit moves us along.

Namaste.

Archangels Speak - About Placing Trust

The Archangels tell us that we often put our trust in people that only wish to use and abuse us.  We need to find people that we can really trust – or people who can really say, "I see you" – the famous line from the movie, "Avatar".

Often, people draw us in because they have an agenda that they think we can help them fulfill.  A relationship based on an agenda is a false friendship, and one that will let you down. 

Namaste.

Other blogs (click on the link):

Buddha Speaks - How Do You Place Your Trust

Spirit Animal - Owl says, “Who do you trust?”

Spirit Animal – Mama Mallard Duck

Spirit Speaks - Trusting In Self

Archangels - Different Countries

The Archangels tell us that people move around a lot more now than they did a thousand years ago.  The oddest thing is that people still complain if their new surroundings do not mimic something of their previous surroundings. 

The Archangels tell us that each geographic area is designed to be suitable for a specific type of human, animal, bird etc.  This means that not all habitats will suit all beings. Get over it!

Namaste.

Buddha Speaks - Peace is in the Present

 

Tonight, our meditation is focusing on “Peace Within”.  I was lucky enough to find this poster that shows a quote from Lao Tzu speaking on peace.  I think that when we feel peace in ourselves and our surroundings, we receive a triple fold blessing.  I believe that peace keeps us young.  I mean it stops our bodies from aging.  With peace, we have time to focus our faith and to feel the calling of our spirit. 

For me, peace is:

• sitting by the fireplace with my husband, roaring fire, book in hand
• walking in the park with my dogs and hearing the trees, the water, the birds, and the breeze
• sitting in our arbour under our mountain ash tree, in the summer, being surrounded by green life and all the birds and squirrels that are in the trees
• sitting in mediation
• working in my garden
• cooking and baking

What is peace to you?

Namaste

Angels Speak– Be Yourself

Life is big.  That’s the way it is meant to be.  If it was small, we would feel confined.  Because life is big, we have the chance to truly be ourselves.  We can move forward with faith.  We were created perfectly to live our life.  We do not have the capacity to comfortably live someone else’s life.  It is the same in Nature.  Each piece of Nature is unique.  Each flower, for example, is the same and is also different.  Isn’t it wonderful?

Namaste

Angels Speak - Make the Best of Everything

Thanks to Judy Belmont for posting this poster.

I hear people complain about an event that has upset them.  The common phrase that follows is, “I had no choice.”

Choice is not limited.  It is our thinking that is limited.  We can choose anything because we have the free will to do so.

Namaste.

Angels Speak - Pain and Sorrow

The poster with the wonderful words of Rumi, speaks to the saying from our Ancestors that “God does not give us more than we can handle”.  We all have times when we cannot move because there is great sorrow in our lives.

Pain and sorrow allow you to grow or to shut down (with anger, resentment, and grievances).  We need to find a way to move to the light, to the lightness of heart. 

Namaste

Angels Speak - Let Others Be

 

The Angels say that what others do and how they do it should not concern you, unless they are your children.  You can only be responsible for yourself.  When you criticize, you are working through a comparison.  You are NOT impartial.  You measure everything with your ego. 

The Angels say, “Let it go!  It doesn’t matter.  What you do and how you do it, matters.”

Namaste

Angels Speak - Let Go

Today I was strong!  Today I let go.  I let go of trying to make things work when I know they are broken, and no one else wants to fix it.  I let go of believing that the others in the team have the same end goal in mind.  I let go of thinking that I can carry everyone.

I can only do for me, not for any one else.  Other people have their own beliefs, values, and responsibilities.  I am not here to let you off the hook.  I am here to move me forward along the life path that takes me to you and past you.  I am good with that.

Namaste.

Angels Speak - A Dr. Seuss Moment

 

The great gift of Dr. Seuss is the practical advice that he hands out to people in the form of fun and funny ways of grouping words together.  The practical advice – you CHOOSE your path – never ages.  To repeat, it is timeless.  We need to make ourselves conscious of our choices.

Namaste

Angels Speak - More on Courage

 

My friend, Lu, was teaching me about BreakThrough, a tool that she learned to use to get through the big stuff in life that keeps us from being clear, powerful, and moving forward or upward.  One of the things that came up in a session was fear around stretching, and the feeling of being a coward.  Interestingly, this feeling goes back to an early memory in my life.

The point is, that it is okay to feel fear, and acknowledge it, and then move on.  I saw this saying from someone, and I realized that they knew what it was like to feel fear.  The saying resonated with me.  Almost on a daily basis, if we stopped to think about it, we feel fear.  It might be gone in a flash, but it is there.

We drive out on the freeway at above legal speeds, or slip through a yellow light, or try a new, hot, spicy food.  The reactions are similar.  The gut tightens, you might sweat, and your heart races.  You are doing something to yourself.  It is not from the outside.

For me, this makes fear and courage fascinating.

I wish you courageous days to come.

Namaste

Angels Speak–There Are Many Types of Blessing

As we move in to March, remember that there are many types of blessings.  Actions that seem harsh may turn out to be exactly what you need.

The blessing may be:

-missing an accident

-a bird song

-someone offering you home made cookies that they brought to the office

-a smile and a pat on the back.

The angels tell us that often, we are so busy in our heads and looking at how we can show how smart we are that we forget to look for the blessings.

Namaste

Angels Speak - Courage Has Many Definitions

Last week, I was fortunate to hear a story about moving on with her life from a very courageous woman.  She had been hurt in a car accident.  At the time of the accident,  the doctors told her family that she probably would not survive.  She was not fully conscious for several months.  During that time, she could choose to stay or to return to the Universe.  She chose to stay, and then had to go through the reintegration process to return to “normal” life. She had physiotherapy and psychotherapy, and all kinds of therapy.  During this, she lost her job, her condo, and many friends.  She kept going. I call that courage.

Courage, the Archangels tell us, has many kinds of forms and definitions.  We are not able to see what are courageous actions and we cannot understand every courageous action or belief.  Many are acts of faith. I look at history and see the journeys that our Ancestors took, and wonder where their courage came from.  Perhaps, like the last blog talked about, they were stuck in a rut, and needed to change.  http://angelsandancestors.blogspot.ca/2015/02/angels-speak-on-being-stuck.html 

I wonder if courageous people hear a different life music than the rest of us. Perhaps they have a special blessing or gift that helps them make courageous choices.  Perhaps, they are the stuff of future legends. 

Namaste.

Nature Speaks - How Do You Laugh!

At lunch the other day, our team talked about how much we laughed together!  Laughing is a good thing!  It relaxes you. It releases happy gadgets in your body.  It helps you think clearer.  And, of course, we know laughter heals ailments. 

I came across this poster, and it made me laugh, because I believe it is true.  Nature spreads out flowers in dribbles, when she wants you to smile, and in blankets when she wants you to laugh.  Walking or hiking, on a mountain is a spiritual way to connect with everything. And on the hike, you will see Mother Nature has ‘planned’ where her flowers grow, no different than the way our mothers used to plan their flower beds.

There are stories, or legends, about how flowers could not grow in the Ocean, and the Ocean, too, wanted flowers.  So Mother Nature made different coral beds and luminescent algae and other small flowers to replicate the flowers on the land.  Sometimes, the combination of flowers, breeze, and birdsong is the most relaxing, healing music one can find.  In this clarity, it is easy to regain one’s faith in life.

Namaste